Although this book refers on occasion to what Joseph Ratzinger has written or said following his
election as successor of Peter, for the most part it is based on his
theological, spiritual, and pastoral writings as professor in various German
universities (Bonn, Münster, Tubingen, and Regensburg) and later as Archbishop
of Munich and Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A
deeper understanding of Pope Benedict's Magisterium requires constant reference
to his earlier writings, in which the same themes are treated in considerable
depth, in the light of Scripture and the Church's tradition and in dialogue
with contemporary concerns. In this regard, it may prove both useful and
illuminating to say something about the kind of theological reflection we shall
encounter in the course of this book. Although the list is certainly incomplete,
a number of characteristics come to mind:

1. All of Joseph Ratzinger's writings are solidly scriptural. Scripture is, of course, the soul of all theology,
[8] but not all theologians make such widespread use of Scripture as the
primary source and inspiration of their reflections as Ratzinger does. While he
makes judicious use of the most reliable findings of modern exegesis, he is
careful to read Scripture within the tradition of the Church and as a unity,
centered on the person and saving work of Jesus Christ.

2. Ratzinger's work is also firmly grounded in tradition, for he is convinced that the truth gradually
unfolds itself in the life of the Church under the direction of the Holy Spirit
(cf. Jn 16:13). [9] His theology is shaped by long familiarity with the Fathers
of the Church, especially St. Augustine, whose understanding of the Church was
the subject of his doctoral thesis People of God and House of God in St.
Augustine's Doctrine of the Church, defended in 1951 and first published in
1954. [10]

3. Joseph Ratzinger's approach to the various issues dealt with in his writings
is characterized above all by a search for the truth. He does not seek originality for originality's
sake, but is convinced that the resources of Scripture and tradition provide
the fundamental orientation guiding our attempts to answer contemporary
questions and challenges concerning the faith. Acceptance of the faith in its
entirety as the truth that we have received from God and that is taught by the
Church, over which we are not the masters, is the precondition for any fruitful
theological work. [11] This attitude of receptivity does not reduce theology to
a mindless repetition of past insights and conclusions. Theology becomes an
exciting and fruitful pursuit when the theologian bases his work on the
pluralism in unity found in the Old and New Testaments, and the Church's
teaching, while keeping in mind the ongoing life of faith. There is a unity in
faith but a plurality in theology; indeed, the fixing of a common reference
point in the truth of Christian faith makes plurality possible. A legitimate
theological pluralism arises "not when we make it the object of our
desire, but when everyone wants the truth with all his power and in his own
epoch". [12]

4. The foregoing points make it clear that Joseph Ratzinger's theology is
profoundly ecclesial. It is in
the Church that we encounter Christ: she is our "contemporaneity with
Christ: there is no other". [13] It is within the communion of the Church
that the Holy Spirit leads us into the fullness of truth. For this reason, the
Church is not an authority that remains foreign to the scientific character of
theological reflection, but the ground of theology's existence and the
condition that makes it possible. [14] Indeed, as the German exegete Heinrich
Schlier, then a member of the Confessing Evangelical Church, reminded his
listeners in 1935, at the height of the Nazi campaign to make the Church an
instrument of its own policies, "care for the Word of God among men is entrusted
to the Church alone". [15] The teaching office of the Church is not above
the Word of God but exercises a humble service to it: this ecclesial office has
the task of ensuring that Scripture is not manipulated and that its clear
meaning is preserved from the conflict of hypotheses. [16] The freedom of
theology is its bond with the Church and any other freedom "is a betrayal
both of itself and of the object entrusted to it". [17]

Divorced from the faith of the Church, theological reflection would become no
more than a personal theory or, at best, a philosophy of religion. It would
also run the risk of being reduced to no more than an alternative formulation
of the fashionable ideas shaping contemporary popular culture or of falling
prey to political or commercial interests. Such speculation on religion could
well be interesting, but it is hardly what one would stake one's life on.

5. The writings of Joseph Ratzinger are marked by a certain fragmentary quality, in the sense that he never produced a
complete synthesis of the Christian faith and that many of his writings, being
occasional pieces, do not fully develop the profound intuitions that he
enunciates. In part, this is in keeping with his insistence that the faith is
not a system but a path, along which we travel together in the communion of the
Church toward the fullness of truth. It is also due to the simple fact that he
had to give up his preferred life as an academic to serve the Church first as
Archbishop of Munich, then as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of
the Faith, and now, of course, as Pope. Ratzinger is well aware of the
unfinished character of much of his writing, yet, as his former student Vincent
Twomey points out, "He makes a virtue out of this 'weakness'" and
presents his various writings as "contributions to an ongoing
debate". [18]

6. Despite the admittedly incomplete nature of much of Ratzinger's work, there
is an inner consistency that
marks all of his writings, although each piece "never fails to surprise
with its freshness, originality, and depth." [19] Many of his basic
intuitions about the nature of the Church, the relation of Church and State,
the place of history in Christian thinking, and the distinction between utopia
and eschatology (with its consequences for the theology of politics and
liberation theology) may be traced back to his doctoral thesis on St. Augustine
and his Habilitationsschrft (or
postdoctoral research required for university teaching) entitled The
Theology of History in St. Bonaventure,
defended in 1957 and first published in 1959. [20] With regard to the inner
unity of Ratzinger's theology; an excellent starting point for delving into his
rich and exciting work is his Introduction to Christianity. [21] This book, first published in 1968, was based on
a series of lectures on the Apostles' Creed that he gave in the summer term of
1967 at the University of Tübingen to students of all faculties. It opens
"with a masterly attempt to situate the question of belief and its
communal expression in the modern world before going on to comment on the
contents of the Creed". [22] Many of the issues that receive more detailed
treatment in his later writings make their appearance here: the relationship
between faith and reason, the consequences of the doctrine of creation for our
understanding of the human person, the interpretation of Scripture, ecumenism,
catechetics, the Eucharist, the nature of Christian worship, and eschatology.

7. Ratzinger's is a theology of dialogue, sensitive to contemporary questions. As is clear from Introduction
to Christianity, his theology does not
limit itself to an orthodox reaffirmation of the central tenets of the faith.
His method involves listening to the discussions and frequently implicit
questions of modern culture and contemporary theological scholarship in order
to uncover whatever truths they may contain and respond in the light of faith.
In this way, his theology is not an abstract speculation with little to say to
modern man, but is solidly connected with the experience of people today: he
shows how perennial Christian truths are relevant to our questioning and
illuminate the path for life's journey. Emblematic of his respectful approach
to the positions of others is his attitude to the role played by heresies in
the development of Christian dogma. After surveying the heresies that arose in
the course of the Church's formulation of the Trinitarian dogma, he points out
that they should not be viewed simply as failures of human thought in
reflecting upon the ineffable. Rather, "every heresy is at the same time
the cipher for an abiding truth, a cipher we must now preserve with other
simultaneously valid statements, separated from which it produces a false
impression." [23]

8. It is clear from the foregoing that Joseph Ratzinger's theology is eminently
pastoral. Apart from writings
explicitly devoted to pastoral themes such as preaching, [24] the celebration
of the liturgy, [25] catechesis, [26] ethics, [27] and the Christian approach
to politics, [28] most of his theological output is produced with an eye to
practical questions about living the faith in the contemporary world in the
face of increasing secularization and religious pluralism. The pastoral
approach does not mean accommodation to current ways of thinking and behaving,
but entails bringing the joy and the light of the truth to bear on contemporary
situations in a manner that is convincing and sensitive to the questions of
modern man. In this regard, Ratzinger cites an entry from the diary of Romano
Guardini, which could easily apply to himself: "Truth has such a clear and
calm power. My aim in pastoral work is this: to help by the power of the
truth." [29]

9. While Joseph Ratzinger has published some explicitly spiritual writings,
such as the retreat he gave to the Roman Curia in 1983, [30] and the one he
gave to priest members of Comunione e Liberazione in 1986, [31] as well as his contribution to the
development of a spiritual Christology, Behold the Pierced One, [32] his writings on priestly spirituality, [33]
and the magnificent chapter on the Lord's Prayer in his first book written as
Pope, Jesus of Nazareth, [34] all
of his theology is characterized by a strong spiritual and prayerful note. It is no exaggeration to say that just as his
explicitly spiritual writings are profoundly theological, so too his
theological writings are deeply spiritual and indeed lead to prayer. In this
regard, his writings remind one of the theological method of Hans Urs von
Balthasar or the objective approach to spiritual theology found in the writings
of Blessed Columba Marmion, an author with whom, more than likely, he would
have been well acquainted in the seminary. However, it is probably even more
true to say that his theology reflects his long familiarity with the Church
Fathers, who did not separate theological reflection from prayer and pastoral
concerns.

10. A final characteristic of Joseph Ratzinger's theology is the sheer
joy in the faith that it exudes. Overcoming
a narrow moralistic and legalistic interpretation of Christianity, Ratzinger
emphasizes that Christian faith is not a burden but brings joy to the heart of
man. For Ratzinger, joy emerges from the totality of Christian faith when it is
received in an open and generous heart. Joy is an overarching or synthesizing
theme in his writings. It refers both to God's gifts of love, salvation, and
eternal life and to man's response, shaped by the supernatural attitudes of
faith, hope, and charity and lived out amid life's joys and sorrows in the
community of the Church as she journeys toward the definitive encounter with
her Lord.

Joseph Ratzinger was once asked to describe what he saw as specific to his
theology and way of doing theology. In his reply, which synthesizes many of the
points made above, he explains that he has always consciously pursued a
theology firmly grounded in the faith of the Church and in dialogue with
contemporary thought:

I began with the theme of the Church, and it is present in everything. Only, in
dealing with the Church it was important to me, and it has become increasingly
important, that the Church not be an end in herself but exist so that God may
be seen. In that respect I would say that I study the theme of the Church with
the intention of opening a vista onto God. And in this sense God is the real
central theme of my endeavors.

I have never tried to create a system of my own, an individual theology. What
is specific, if you want to call it that, is that I simply want to think in
communion with the faith of the Church, and that means above all to think in
communion with the great thinkers of the faith. The aim is not an isolated
theology that I draw out of myself but one that opens as widely as possible
into the common intellectual pathway of the faith. For this reason exegesis was
always very important. I couldn't imagine a purely philosophical theology. The
point of departure is first of all the Word. That we believe the word of God,
that we try really to get to know and understand it and then, as I said, to
think it together with the great masters of the faith. This gives my theology a
somewhat biblical character and also bears the stamp of the Fathers, especially
Augustine. But it goes without saying that I try not to stop with the ancient
Church but to hold fast to the great high points of thought and at the same
time to bring contemporary thought into the discussion. [35]

An attempt, such as this, to convey something of the richness of the thought of
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, cannot hope to say everything. It is
intended in the first place as an expression of gratitude for all that this
author has gained over the years from frequenting Ratzinger's extraordinarily
profound, inspiring, and wide-ranging theological works. Incomplete and
imperfect though it is, this exploration of the central theme of joy also aims
at serving the Holy Father's message. It is hoped that these pages will
encourage the reader to engage Pope Benedict's own writings and so come to know
better the beauty and joy of the Christian faith and grow in love of God and
neighbor.

ENDNOTES:

[8] See Second Vatican Council, Decree on Priestly Training, Optatam
Totius, October 28, 1965, no. 16. For
Joseph Ratzinger's approach to scriptural exegesis, see the Erasmus lecture
"Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: On the Question of the Foundations and
Approaches of Exegesis Today", which he delivered on January 27, 1988 in
St. Peter's Church, New York, in The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His
Central Writings and Speeches, ed. John F.
Thornton and Susan B. Varenne (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2007), pp.
243-58. [Editor's note: The lecture is also now available in God's
Word's: Scripture, Tradition, Office (Ignatius
Press, 2008), by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.]

[10] Joseph Ratzinger, Volk und Haus Gottes in Augustins Lehre von
der Kirche (Munich: Zink, 1954); unamended
reprint with a new preface (St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1992). To date, this work
has not been translated into English. It has been translated into Italian as Popolo
e casa di Dio in Sant' Agostino (Milan:
Jaca Book, 1978).

[11] Joseph Ratzinger has explored the nature of theology in various writings;
see, for example, The Nature and Mission of Theology: Approaches to
Understanding Its Role in the Light of Present Controversy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995); "Faith
and Theology", in Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as
Communion (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
2005), pp. 17-28; "What in Fact Is Theology", in Pilgrim
Fellowship of Faith, pp. 29-37.

[20] On the difficulties encountered with regard to his Habilitationsschrift, see Joseph Ratzinger's own account in his Milestones:
Memoirs 1927-1977 (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1998), pp. 103-14. Ratzinger's Habilitationssch rift was translated into English as The
Theology of History in St. Bonaventure
(Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1971).

[21] The first English edition of Introduction to Christianity, translated by J. R. Foster, was published in London
in 1969 and in New York in 1970 and reprinted by Ignatius Press in 1990. I
refer to the second edition published by Ignatius Press in 2004. This edition
is almost identical in content to the original, with some corrections to the
translation and the addition of a new preface, written in 2000 by the then
Cardinal Ratzinger, entitled "Introduction to Christianity: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", which surveys some
of the new challenges to the Christian faith that have emerged since 1968.

[25] In this regard, one should mention above all his trilogy on the liturgy: The
Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986); A
New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy (New York: Crossroad, 1996); The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000).

[26] See for example, Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, with Christoph
Schönborn (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994); Joseph Ratzinger, Gospel,
Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997). Particularly
significant is Joseph Ratzinger's lecture on the contemporary state of
catechesis, delivered in January 1983 in Paris and Lyons, which is published in
English as "Handing on the Faith and the Sources of the Faith", in
Joseph Ratzinger et al., Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), pp. 13-40.

[30] See Joseph Ratzinger, Journey towards Easter: Retreat Given in
the Vatican in the Presence of Pope John Paul II (Slough: St. Paul Publications, 1987).

[31] See Joseph Ratzinger, The Yes of Jesus Christ: Spiritual
Exercises in Faith, Hope and Love (New
York: Crossroad, 2005), originally published as To Look on Christ:
Exercises in Faith, Hope and Love (New
York: Crossroad, 1991).

Monsignor Joseph Murphy, a native of Ireland, received his S.T.L. degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has
taught in colleges and seminaries, and he has written articles for several publications. He currently is an official of the Secretariat
of State at the Vatican.

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